One of the presumptions of the modern democratic state is that a
majority of people, knowing well what they want, are best left
in charge of the broader decisions concerning the general
direction of the state. Democratic ideals assume the existence
of majorities who are already informed enough, mature enough,
and unselfish enough to make the wisest choices, the choices
that lead to a long and happy future for more than just the
individual.

Clearly, the focus of a democracy lies in pleasing more of the
people more of the time. If people know where they want to go,
it pleases them to select the means of getting there from a
handful of alternative possibilities. But democracies continue
to adhere to their ideals only when they govern a population of
individuals who are confident in their own ability to discern
the good and right from the wrong and bad. Only this kind of
individual is happiest when left in control of their destiny.
Confident people expect they can make good choices and
democratic ideals appeal to them. Democracy attracts those who
have learned to trust themselves or, alternately, those who have
learned to distrust anyone who would step in and make a choice
for them.

Several of the apparent presumptions of the Church of
Scientology parallel democratic ideals. The Scientology doctrine
agrees that people do know basically what they want. The
difference is that Scientology assumes they don't know how to
get there. Nor can they discover their own way, all by
themselves. The doctrine assumes struggles when it comes to
differentiating good from bad. It assumes a population that
cannot easily and intentionally make the good choice,
particularly if the choice involves their own behavior. In fact,
Scientology assumes people to have so little competence in the
making, and the carrying out of effective decisions that new
criteria for arriving at the best choice must be implanted
within them. Only then can they begin to consistently make the
"right" or "rational" choice.

Scientologists firmly believe that the majority of people, left
to its own devices, would follow an aberrated course, (which
means that it would inevitably and repeatedly select the worst
choice,) ultimately leading a state into disaster. It's as if
the average person were an actor with a lousy script, or a
computer with poorly conceived software. At the bottom of their
hearts the Scientologist believes that average people are just
like computers. Just as a computer cannot be trusted to write or
debug its own programs, human beings cannot be trusted to write
their own scripts. Therefore, the reasoning goes, the only
rational solution is to call in and rely upon the writings of
another, properly qualified scriptwriter. In the Scientology
view, there's only one. And of course, we all know who that is!

The assumptions of democracy and the assumptions of Scientology
lie on the opposite sides of a spectrum of beliefs. One admits
that the people do in fact make mistakes. But it asserts that
people already have built within them the means of correcting
themselves and discerning the best choice. Given enough
experience and time to experiment with, or create new
alternatives, everyone can find their own way in life.
Democratic ideals trust the actors in the grand play of life to
write their own script, and they grant them the freedoms they
need to do the job. In an idealized democratic state, running on
an ineffective script doesn't lead to condemnation. Instead it
leads to another chance to reconsider, revise, and try yet
another untested alternative. In the world of democratic ideals,
everyone is valuable, because anyone can find a new and better
way.

On the other side of the spectrum lies Scientology. Scientology
instructs us that the fact that people have made mistakes in the
past proves there is something inherently wrong with them. An
imperfect past means that people are incapable of discerning
what is good. The only answer? - the "standard" implantation of
a "standard" Scientology script. Scientology values and scripts
must be "put into" the individual or no hope is possible.
"Standard" scripts are written by the only qualified
scriptwriter ever to exist on Earth - L. Ron Hubbard.

L. Ron Hubbard doesn't like competitors. To eliminate them, all
of humanity must be stripped of its powers to create.
Experimentation must be outlawed. Discussions of anything other
than the wonderful benefits of Hubbard's scripts and Scientology
values must be stamped out. For its flaws and the mistakes of
its past, humanity is harshly condemned. Individuals cannot
improve all on their own. There's only one way out - accept
Hubbard's script. In the Scientology view, the path to
redemption is not creativity, but surrender.

Evidence exists to support both points of view.

"Yes, the people can be trusted," the believer in Democracy
would assert. "Yes, of course they make mistakes, but that
doesn't prove that they're incapable. Making mistakes is the way
people learn. They don't deserve to be condemned for trying. A
failed attempt means that they're that much closer to success.
Learning by experimentation lets people find a new way when
conditions change and the old way stops working. Experimentation
is good. Maybe someone will come up with something better. It's
true that most of them won't. But maybe one will. Did you ever
think of that? Maybe there's a better, smarter script out there
somewhere in the land of future possibility just waiting to be
found. If you stamp out creativity, that possibility will never
be. And besides, if human beings can't be trusted to invent a
good script, why would L. Ron Hubbard be the exception? He was a
human being wasn't he? Why is he so special?"

"HE JUST IS!!!" the Scientologist would snarl. If pressed, the
Scientologist might bring out a carefully contrived list of
accolades and awards that their master scriptwriter L. Ron
Hubbard had received from poor souls who at some point in their
lives didn't trust or believe in themselves. The Scientologist
might pull out a list of Hollywood stars, all "in" Scientology,
but all of whom fall in the same category. At some point in
time, they didn't trust themselves. Perhaps the Scientologist
would cite the sheer quantity of books Hubbard has supposedly
written. As if quantity were an earmark of quality. But
regardless of which script they perform, it's all designed to
prove that there exists only one person that can be trusted to
write the scripts, while everyone else should do nothing else
but obey them.

The Scientologist may not say it in words, but they scream it
loudly by implication. "HUMAN BEINGS CANNOT BE TRUSTED!!!! They
can't be trusted--- That's IT!--- NOT WITHOUT STANDARDLY APPLIED
AUDITING AND TRAINING!!!!" In other words human beings cannot be
trusted to discern good from bad without first having their
minds filled to bursting with the values and scripts of the
somehow very special writer, L. Ron Hubbard. Only then can they
be trusted to behave "optimally". It's disturbing to think that
the Scientologist wholeheartedly believes that the only right
choice a human being is capable of making is to choose to open
the doors of their mind to the Church of Scientology and
enthusiastically say, "Fill 'r up!", but this is not an
exaggeration. Scientologists want people to bow down and admit,
"The mistakes of my past prove I don't have the slightest idea
how to discern good from bad! I can't be trusted to make my own
choices! There's no way I can ever learn on my own! Please.
Please--- fill me up with something that works! I'll try anything!
Anything that L. Ron Hubbard says. Give it to me--- I'll take it!
Please! I surrender!!"

So who's right?

It depends on your faith. Do you believe people can find a better way
by making their mistakes, experimenting, and imagining? Do you think
that eventually they can find, or even create their own best way?
Or, do you believe the best way has already been found, and there
simply cannot be anything better? This is a matter of faith. Do you
believe choices are best made in the present time by people who are
aware of the current situation, or, is it best to rely on the
prerogatives and the supposedly 20/20 foresight of a long dead author?
Once again, it's a matter of faith. Most people fall somewhere in the
middle.

Lessons learned by someone else in the past may be very
useful, but not so useful that they should prevent one from learning
new and more effective lessons. Not so useful that they should
preclude experimentation and creativity. But this is exactly what the
Scientologists would prefer. They would like everyone - every single
man, woman, and child on the planet to stop learning their own
lessons, to stop writing their own script. Why? Supposedly because
it's too painful! They don't trust people to handle the pain that
comes with learning and creation. They want everyone to admit they are
weak. They want them all to willingly bow down and happily join the
side of the population that doesn't trust in itself. The side that
doesn't believe in itself. The side that believes only in salvation
via the allegedly miraculous script writing talents of some grandiose
little red haired snipe who thinks he's better than everyone else.
Nothing could be more contrary to the ideals of democracy. But it goes
even further---

The Scientologist very much prefers to view the society outside of
Scientology as being in terrible shape. For the Scientologists, a
world that is ripe for the taking is behaving according to cliché -
it's "going to hell in a hand basket". Scientologists just love to
find non-Scientologists who are failing and miserable. Happy,
competent, and especially creative non-Scientologists are very
distressing to those in the "Church". This is because Scientology
thrives on chaos.

Only when things go terribly wrong can people start distrusting
themselves enough to surrender. Scientologists are waiting
eagerly for the day when something goes terribly wrong, and society
stops trusting itself en masse. What a happy day it will be for them
when the world, as a whole, stumbles badly. The more distressing it is
to us, the better it will be for them. When it happens, and it
eventually will, the Scientologists will ride in triumphantly on their
white horse and say, "Look! There's a way out of this! We have your
solution!! It's called Scientology." And sure enough many of those who
have lost faith in themselves will accept what the Scientologists are
offering. When we fail, they win. And they are just waiting for us to
slip up. It is only out chaos, that a Scientology scripted planet,
standardly cleared of all creativity, standardly cleared of all
opposing scripts, can arise.